Constable held in connection with July 5 businessman abduction case

Kolkata: A police constable has been arrested in connection with a case of abduction and robbery which happened on July 5. The accused constable, identified as Utpal Kar, was arrested on Wednesday night from Bijpur in North 24-Parganas.

Earlier on July 5, a jewellery business owner of Nadia identified as Bablu Nath had lodged a FIR at Muchipara police station, stating that he was abducted by two persons in a SUV, who had claimed to be policemen.

He also told the police that they had taken Rs one lakh and gold jewellery weighing about 50 grams and left him near the airport on July 4. During the probe, sleuths identified the SUV and its registration number from CCTV footage.

Later, on the basis of the SUV's registration number, police managed to get hold of the driver identified as Nepal Dhar and the owner of the SUV, who were both arrested.

During interrogation, he stated that a person identified as Ashish Chandra, who works in the records section of Kolkata Police, was involved in the case.

Following the statement by Dhar, Chandra was arrested on July 9. After his arrest, he was interrogated and sleuths came to know that Kar, who is a police constable posted at Lalbazar, was also connected with the case. Since then, police had been on the hunt for him as he had fled.

On Wednesday, police came to know from sources that Kar was hiding in Bijpur. Immediately, a joint team of Muchipara police station and Kolkata Police Detective Department went to Bijpur and nabbed Kar.

According to senior police officials, he has confessed his part in the crime. He was absent since October last year without informing concerned superiors.

Chandra had been arrested earlier in 2014 for his connection with a cheating case at Sealdah Government Railway Police (GRP). That time, he was suspended and a departmental inquiry was also initiated.